Big Drug Bust

John AndersonAugust 28, 2019

U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced Wednesday in addressing the media that dozens of people are behind bars following a three year-investigation into drug activity in the Manhattan area. McAllister says over fifty people have been charged as part of the investigation and more than thirty have already been taken into custody. Many of the charges are related to the trafficking of Opioids, such as fentanyl and heroin, and some of them are linked to overdose deaths. He called the effort in and around Manhattan and Riley Co. “a chance to clean out a city.” The overdose death of a Kansas State student, Maxwell F. Dandaneu, in 2017 helped trigger the entire investigation, McAllister said. He explained the student had purchased heroin to try it for the first time and it was laced with fentanyl. “That one and only time he tried it was fatal,” adding that the student was found dead the next day. Five of the defendants in one of the 13 indictments issued is connected to that student’s death. McAllister noted a few grams of fentanyl “so small you can barely hold it” can be deadly. fentanyl mixed with heroin is the second greatest drug threat in the state behind meth. The investigation was dubbed “Operation Chicago Connection” and some of the cases had a connection to the Windy City, As early as 2016, investigators in the Riley Co. region had been hearing about traffickers known as “the Chicago Boys.” Police were able to determine drug runners were making regular trips to Illinois to bring back heroin, fentanyl, and other drugs. McAllister said many of the drugs, like fentanyl, were likely produced overseas and were then repackaged when they got to the US.
The Riley Co. Police Dept. booking report shows 24 people were arrested Tuesday on allegations they were distributing opiates. RCPD would not say if any or all of those arrests were linked to this investigation.